There have been plenty of talking points surrounding Everton so far this campaign, from the improvement in the creativity of the attack to the underperformance of the strikers, but one player has come out of nowhere to cement himself as one of the club's most reliable players: James Garner.
It has not been an orthodox beginning to Garner's season, as he's spent time both in his usual midfield role while also starting two matches at left back due to injuries to Vitalii Mykolenko and Adam Aznou to open the campaign.
Because of this, he's played the full 90 minutes in all nine matches this season, a blistering rate that might be difficult for the 24-year-old to maintain. But Everton's thin squad may force manager David Moyes' hand a bit, especially with Idrissa Gana Gueye set to play for Senegal in the African Cup of Nations in December, leaving Garner, Tim Iroegbunam, and Merlin Röhl as the only central midfielders on the roster.
To his credit, Garner has generally played well, even when asked to slide into an unfamiliar role as he did against Leeds and Brighton to open the year.
He and James Tarkowski are the only two players to have featured in all 810 minutes of Everton's season, and his 38 progressive passes are tied with Gana for the club lead. Garner is also third on the team in Shot Created Actions with 21, just behind Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (26) and Jack Grealish (30), a pair of players who are asked to be more attack-minded in Moyes' setup.
The midfielder also tops Everton in tackles with 10, although he's attempted 20, suggesting an area of his game that still needs refining. But he's clearly putting himself in good positions, something that was an area of concern for him in recent seasons.
Because of his consistent play, Moyes has suggested that Garner could be in line for his first senior England call-up soon, with the midfielder having played for the country's youth side and U18s and U21s over the course of his career.
Whether he can break into the senior side with a World Cup on the horizon remains to be seen, but his performances so far this season have certainly turned a few heads.
Whether Thomas Tuchel is paying attention or not, Garner is proving himself to be a key figure for Everton and should remain a vital chess piece for Moyes throughout the rest of the year.